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Lowell charter school celebrates transformation

By Olesia Plokhii, oplokhii@lowellsun.com

Updated:
10/02/2012 01:05:34 PM EDT

LOWELL -- Teetering on the verge of closure two years ago, the Lowell Community Charter Public School has not only managed to save itself from shuttering, but recently announced it had achieved gains on state exam scores and for the first time reached the highest level for school performance in the state.

The transformation of the school, which serves a majority of students from low-income and underserved families and climbed from the lowest performance level in 2010 after a virtual gutting of their former teaching staff, board of directors and superintendent, has been "remarkable," Massachusetts Education Secretary Paul Reville said at a celebration ceremony at the school Monday.

"Two years ago, this school was on the ropes," Reville said to about 200 children of Cambodian, African American and African descent as well as children and parents of other nationalities. "But now you've turned around what was a failing school to one of the commonwealth's most successful schools."

Reville said the turnaround -- underpinned by a 23 percent increase in math, a 19 percent increase in reading and writing, and a 16 percent increase in science scores on the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System exams -- was so substantial that his department would study the school's strategy to make it a model for improvement in a state known for having one of the best public-education systems in the country.

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But Reville was careful not only to praise the success of the school staff and students, but to encourage them to continue to excel.

"You have to prove this isn't a one-time spike," Reville told the children, many of whom were singing in a choir or fiddling with the shiny achievement medals draped around their necks next to their parents.

LCCPS Superintendent Kathy Egmont, who was hired in 2010 in an effort to save the school after it was threatened with closure for chronic underperformance during its 12 years, said that through new policies instituted under her reign, like letting go of failing teachers, creating more rigorous academic curriculums, introducing a disciplinary program, a code of conduct and outfitting students in uniforms, the school was also able to close the gap between the achievement performance of children from different ethnic groups, backgrounds and learning styles.

"No one felt good about this school in 12 years, so when we found out (the results on Sept 19), we had people here who cried," said Egmont, who worked in low-income schools in Lawrence and Harlem, N.Y., before coming to Lowell. "But we believe if we raise expectations, children will rise to that expectation."

Speaking in front of the audience Monday about students' role in putting the school on a smart path to success, LCCPS sixth-grader Alberlis Franco said that she sacrificed her Saturdays to get extra help at the school and "studied over and over" for the MCAS. For the first time in over a decade, it worked.

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